Coalition fallout after David Cameron abandons plans to change the House of Lords

"Nick Clegg is expected to announce next week he has been forced to abandon Lords reform in the face of implacable Conservative backbench opposition that David Cameron has been unable to overcome. It is a bitter second blow to Clegg, who has already been forced to swallow abandoning electoral reform for the Commons" – Guardian

"Senior Liberal Democrats warned there would be ‘serious consequences’ if the Tories fail to deliver on the ‘non-negotiable’ coalition policy – a cherished plan of Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg." – Daily Mail

"Senior figures are even considering a further threat to the Health Bill." – The Times (£)

"Some say the coming furore over Lords reform could mark the beginning of the end of the Coalition. But if blackmail and damaging compromise are the only ways to keep it together, why should anyone think it worth preserving?" – Daily Mail editorial

Failure to deliver Lords reform will not threaten the coalition – Lib Dem peer Lord Rennard for the Guardian

The Coalition has lost a unique opportunity to introduce political change – Independent editorial

Tim Montgomerie: David Cameron can still kick-start the economy and save his career – but it will require radical steps

"British people are not stupid. They know the world is changing. They look at their political class and see nobody with the ability or the vision to meet these challenges. If Cameron can finally do this, he will not only rescue the UK economy but also his political career. He should use the Tory Conference… to announce the boldest economic reconstruction plan our country has seen in at least a generation... He should promise a comprehensive simplification of our… tax system. He should say Britain will renegotiate our membership of the EU and if we can’t get a better economic deal, that people will be able to vote in a referendum… If David Cameron addressed these issues, he would show that, at last, this country has a politician willing to face up to the huge challenges of our time." – Tim Montgomerie for the Daily Mail

Andrew Grice: Does Boris want to be the PM? Yes, and his team is already trying to make it happen

"Lots of hurdles are ahead, but it is clear that Team Boris is on manoeuvres. Mr Johnson has a small but growing band of Tory backbenchers preparing the ground for his leadership bid whenever Mr Cameron steps down, even though that could be years away. They are eyeing up three constituencies, in the hope Mr Johnson might be parachuted into one of them shortly before the 2015 election: Mole Valley in Surrey; Reigate; and Croydon South. (The Tory MPs who hold these seats may have other ideas.)" - Independent

Boris Johnson will try to capitalise on a surge in popularity with a series of overseas trips - The Times (£)

"As conventional Conservative politicians are tangled in the tentacles of Coalition and mired in the slough of economic despond, Boris is somewhere else. Digressive, transgressive, subversive, Boris is in the “wrong” place at the right time. The crowd is loving it, and watches with increasing eagerness to see how he will return at last from the digressio to the main subject with which his adult life began. …. [C]onventional politics is now failing more comprehensively than at any time since the 1930s, and that Boris Johnson is the only unconventional politician in the field." – Charles Moore for the Daily Telegraph

"His essential appeal is that he bucks people up rather than bringing them down – just like the Olympics themselves." – Daily Telegraph editorial

The meaning of Boris: high jinks not high office – Janan Ganesh for the FT (£)

…Borismania to the left of them

"As one Downing Street source puts it: "We're debating someone who's not an MP against someone [Cameron] who remains the public's preferred choice as prime minister." Yet Boris remains the one person in British politics who passes both the Madonna test – no surname necessary – and The Simpsons test, a character recognisable by his silhouette alone. He may be unserious, but it's time to take him very seriously indeed." – Jonathan Freedland for the Guardian

'I don't like it here, it's horrible' Troops complain to Boris about living conditions and ‘boredom’ at their Olympic base - Daily Mail

Boris… in at the deep end: Murdoch is Mayor's 'inappropriate' guest of honour at the Olympic swimming final - Daily Mail

London 2012 opening ceremony: The night that set back NHS reform for years – Ian Birrell for the Daily Mail

Olympic legacy must mean more school sport – Tessa Jowell MP for the Daily Telegraph

"It’s enthralling being immersed with the most beautiful of athletes" – Graeme Archer for the Daily Telegraph

Daily Mail warns against Western intervention in Syria

"There are vile elements in the opposition, including Al Qaeda supporters. And there is no way of telling what regime would emerge from Assad’s overthrow. Have we learned nothing from bitter experience about how ‘non-lethal support’ can quickly turn deadly? After all, Iraq is still a bloodbath and Libya remains terrifyingly volatile. If Western intervention could stop the killing, the Mail would welcome it. But can we be sure it won’t just drag us into another war and prolong the suffering?" – Daily Mail editorial

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